The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC Coming to PC and PSP in 2014

XSEED will be continuing its duties of localizing Falcom’s The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky series by bringing the second chapter in the series to PSP and PC in 2014.

The original game scored a lot of praise from critics in 2011 for its high quality translation and picture perfect throwback to a more innocent time for JRPGs. Not only can fans purchase the sequel through Steam, but XSEED also announced that the original will be getting an HD release on Steam as well, freeing it from the chains of being a PSP exclusive once and for all.

“We are pleased to finally give the fans what they have been requesting so fervently for over two years,” said Ken Berry, Executive Vice President of XSEED Games. “There’s been a constant demand ever since we released the original The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, and we are extremely grateful for our partnership with the passionate localizers at Carpe Fulgur to finally make it a reality.”

Nihon Falcom remains one of the few JRPG development companies to have survived from the early days of the NES and other early Japanese home PCs. With the exception of mainstays like Square, Enix and Atlus, I can’t think of many others who can claim to not only still exist, but to remain so intact after all these years.

Roughly 30 years have passed since its inception, and the company is still producing new Ys games to great fanfare and is still contributing to the JRPG genre with gems like Trails in the Sky, never once abandoning the distinct aesthetic it has in its games: rockin’ music, brilliant sprites, and fully realized JRPG worlds. A heaver focus on PC releases over the years rather than strictly consoles allowed them to survive in the digital age.

Falcom is a living retro gaming company, sticking to what it knows best and still surviving off of it for all this time. Only Nintendo can really sport the same claim. It’s amazing really.

I haven’t jumped into Trails of the Sky yet, but I can guarantee I’ll be lining up day one for a purchase once the games hit Steam. Look for the first game before the end of the year,and check out Trails of the Sky SC in 2014 on Steam and PSP through the PlayStation Store. PlayStation Vita will be supported as well.